Ouya moves into development, switches to Android Jelly Bean

It’s been a while since we’ve heard about the Ouya console. After raising $8.59 million on Kickstarter the team set to work finalizing the design of the machine and the software development kit (SDK) required to produce games and apps for it. Yesterday was a big milestone though, as Ouya came out of its design phase and has gone into development.

What that actually means is the Ouya team is now having hardware made and the first Tegra 3-powered PCBs have been manufactured. The image below, with the first Ouya PCB sitting next to a Coke can, shows you some idea of just how small the final unit is going to be. That board is basically a complete Ouya minus its casing and storage.

Ouya is currently in the engineering validation test (EVT) phase, which is when engineering prototypes are created to test performance and ensure the system works. Anyone who pledged $699 for the Developer Special or $1,337 for the Elite Developer Special should be very interested in EVT boards because these prototypes are the hardware that will be delivered to you in December along with an early access SDK. Each one is set to be unique, so they are certainly collector’s items.

Developers and users will also be happy to hear Ouya is moving Android versions to remain up-to-date. Ouya was originally expected to ship with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but that has been replaced with Jelly Bean.

Everything seems to be on track for the Ouya team to hit the target dates they outlined as part of the Kickstarter pledges. The first developer kits will ship in December and then the first shipments of actual Ouya consoles will start shipping in March. Developers can also expect to get their hands on the SDK and access to the developer portal before the end of the year.